Child Health

A recent study from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development is the primary evidence Mr. Varadarajan provides in support of his argument. However, Mr. Varadarajan's article presents only one aspect of the study's conclusions, namely, children who are placed in child-care for more than 30 hours a week are three times more likely to show behavioral problems in kindergarten as those cared for by their mothers. But according to the study's authors, those children who spent more time in day care were still in the normal range of behavior: an important conclusion Mr. Varadarajan does not include in his summary of the study's data. Also noted by the study's author, Sarah Friedman, is that quantity of time in daycare may not be the cause of behavioral problems, in spite of the statistical link. Ms. Friedman states that there may be a rival cause: "the cause may be the fact that childcare providers are trained to focus on cognitive and achievement skills and not on self-regulation and emotional regulation and ability to deal with frustration." Another conclusion from this study is that children who receive high quality child-care tend to score better in tests of language and cognitive growth, another point Mr. Varadarajan does not include in his summary of the study.

his dissertation investigates the relationship between child health and participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and religion. School lunches may significantly affect children's body weight, whereas religion may exert a beneficial health effect on children as found for adults. To study those relationships, I use data from the 1997 and 2003 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, linked to external data.

The first essay examines determinants of NSLP participation. I use school-level proportion of students eligible for free lunch to proxy perceived stigma regarding free school lunches. A 10% increase in the free lunch eligibility rate is associated with increases in NSLP and free/reduced NSLP participation of 1.9 and 2.7 percentage points, respectively, and eligible high school students' free/reduced NSLP participation of 6.7 percentage points. These results suggest that low-income high school students perceive the strongest stigma. Fewer grocery stores and more conveniences stores in the home neighborhood are associated with higher NSLP participation. Fast food restaurant availability in the school neighborhood decreased free/reduced NSLP participation for eligible high school students.



Tabs: child health, health, health care